Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $431.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential downside of 7.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $464.92 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $482.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $451.87. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $341.85 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total value of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $2,763,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.